A
situation was got for him by the help of a good abbe at Quebec, who was
touched by the tale of the wreck of the Antoine, and by the no less
wonderful tale of the refugees of Spain, who naturally belonged to the
true faith which "feared God and honoured the King." Sebastian Dolores
was grateful for the post offered him, though he would rather have gone
to St. Saviour's with his daughter, for he had lost the gift of work, and
he desired peace after war. In other words, he had that fatal trait of
those who strive to make the world better by talk and violence, the vice
of indolence.
But when Jean Jacques and his handsome bride started for St. Saviour's,
the new father-in-law did not despair of following soon. He would greatly
have enjoyed the festivities which, after all, did follow the home-coming
of Jean Jacques Barbille and his Spanische; for while they lacked
enthusiasm because Carmen was a foreigner, the romance of the story gave
the whole proceedings a spirit and interest which spread into adjoining
parishes: so that people came to mass from forty miles away to see the
pair who had been saved from the sea.
And when the Quebec newspapers found their way into the parish, with a
thrilling account of the last hours of the Antoine; and of Jean Jacques'
chivalrous act in refusing to enter a boat to save himself, though he was
such a bad swimmer and was in danger of cramp; and how he sang Bal chez
Boule while the men worked at the pumps; they permitted the apres noces
of M'sieu' and Madame Jean Jacques Barbille to be as brilliant as could
be, with the help of lively improvisation.
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